Barclays u s aggregate bond index

Sections SEARCH Skip to content Skip to site index Business Subscribe Log In Log In Today’s Paper Business | For a While, Bond Funds Were an Exception to the Indexing Rule Supported by ByCarla Fried Jan. 11, 2019 A December rally in bonds as stocks were plummeting turned a really bad year into something a little less painful for investors in core bond funds that are the centerpiece of many portfolios. According to Morningstar Direct, the average core index bond fund lost just 0.14 percent in 2018, and actively managed core bond funds slid 0.39 percent on average. Until late fall, active fund managers, on average, were actually outperforming their index fund counterparts, and had been doing so for quite some time. S&P Dow Jones Indices runs a semiannual check of how many actively managed funds do better than their target index. In the three years through June, the Spiva report found that nearly 70 percent … [Read more...] about For a While, Bond Funds Were an Exception to the Indexing Rule

By Tom Lydon Published December 29, 2018 ETFs FOXBusiness Facebook Twitter Comments Print video Investors finding opportunities in emerging markets? ETF Trends CEO Tom Lydon on the challenges investing in this market environment and the market impact from U.S. trade tensions with China. Exchange traded fund investors were forced to be more nimble in 2018 to adapt to the volatile market conditions. Continue Reading Below While that volatility dragged down global markets, some traders are sifting through the wreckage in hopes of finding some bargains, such as the oversold emerging markets, which have been particularly hit following the intensifying trade war between the U.S. and China. The emerging markets now look like an attractive value play, with the benchmark MSCI Emerging Markets Index trading at a 10.5 price-to-earnings, compared to the S&P 500's 16.7 P/E. ETF investors are also taking notice of the cheapness and growth … [Read more...] about ETF investors sift through the wreckage for 2019 plays

Sections SEARCH Skip to content Skip to site index Business Subscribe Log In Log In Today’s Paper Business | The Market’s Been Falling. I’m Putting My Money in Stocks Anyway. Supported by Strategies ByJeff Sommer Nov. 16, 2018 The stock market has been plummeting and my own retirement portfolio has been shrinking. Am I worried? Sure. But I’m still buying stocks. Week after week lately, I’ve been stubbornly funneling part of my paycheck into diversified equity mutual funds in the hope of long-term gains, knowing full well that I’ve been losing money. It’s not because I’m confident the market will start a big rally soon. I’m sticking with stocks precisely because I have no idea where the market is heading, and the statistics show that mistiming market rallies is excruciatingly costly. And I’m doing it out of faith in the future. Over the long run, the … [Read more...] about The Market’s Been Falling. I’m Putting My Money in Stocks Anyway.

By Asjylyn Loder The Wall Street Journal Thu., Nov. 1, 2018 Bargain shopping may not be the best idea when it comes to bond funds. Higher-priced portfolios pieced together by active money managers are handily beating the cheaper index-tracking competition, largely because they are doing a better job protecting their portfolios from rising interest rates. Investors have bulked up on passively managed portfolios since the financial crisis amid a steady drumbeat of evidence showing that most managers can’t beat the market, especially after fees. But fixed-income funds have consistently bucked that trend. Recent Morningstar research found that 70% of fund managers who pick and choose intermediate-term bonds are beating their passive peers. Only 36% of U.S. stock pickers can make the same boast. This is particularly important now that fixed-income investments are facing the first prolonged period of rising interest rates in a generation. The Federal Reserve has … [Read more...] about Active bond managers find a way to beat the market

Sections SEARCH Skip to content Skip to site index Business Day Subscribe Log In Subscribe Log In Today’s Paper Advertisement Supported by ByCarla Fried Oct. 12, 2018 For the first time since the financial crisis, playing it safe is paying off for income investors. After a decade when conservative money market funds and similar short-term investments yielded close to zero, it is now possible to earn about 2 percent and even a bit more. Vanguard Prime Money Market fund yields more than 2 percent. A six-month Treasury bill yields 2.4 percent, up from 0.6 percent at the beginning of 2017. Ally Bank pays a 3 percent annual yield on a five-year certificate of deposit, with an early withdrawal fee equal to five months of interest. Goldman Sachs’s online consumer bank, Marcus, pays 1.95 percent on a savings account. Money invested in savings and C.D. bank accounts is guaranteed to hold its value. Money market mutual funds … [Read more...] about Income Investors Finally Have a Chance to Cash In